


Tooth & Claw

by Alexander_L



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Action/Adventure, Divine Pulse Deaths (Fire Emblem), First Kiss, Friendship/Love, Horror, M/M, Marianne's paralogue, Non-Linear Narrative, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27766267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexander_L/pseuds/Alexander_L
Summary: Felix was pretty certain that curses weren't real. But that was before Sylvain talked him into going along with the Golden Deer on a monster hunt in the Sealed Forest and he saw firsthand things that would chill him to the bone.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier, Marianne von Edmund & Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 11
Kudos: 38





	Tooth & Claw

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Marianne's Paralogue happens in the war phase of the game, but... took a little creative license here.

“You’re distracting me,” Lysithea said, shooting Felix a glare. 

“I’m not doing anything,” he insisted.

“You might be three desks away but your sighing and head-scratching as you agonize over those equations is so painful to listen to you might as well be screaming.”

“Hmph.” Felix leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you even here? You’re the model student. What are you doing in study hall detention?”

“Set fire to the training grounds,” she answered off-handedly. “Now stop stupidly glaring at that problem. You can’t intimidate arithmetic into solving itself.”

“Switch me. Whatever you’re working on, it has to be better than these damn equations.”

Lysithea raised her eyebrows. “You want to read a dull history book instead?”

“Sure.”

“Fuck off,” she said.

Felix jumped up from his desk and walked over to hers, plunking his textbook down in front of her. “Look, I’m asking you for a favor. I’ll do whatever you want in return. That book can’t be so-”

As Felix looked over her shoulder to glance at the book, Lysithea tried to yank it away but she couldn’t hide it before Felix read the chapter title _Advanced Studies in Hexology._

He snickered. “Boring history book, huh?”

“Tell Byleth and I’ll use one of these advanced hexes on you,” she threatened.

“Buy my silence. Tell me the answer to this problem so I can get out of here and go back to my training.”

Lysithea set her book down and rested her elbows on the desk, steepling her fingers and regarding Felix with a stare that was deeply unnerving. “What do you know about curses?”

“There’s no such thing as curses.”

“Want to bet on that?” she asked and a flicker of violet flames danced across her fingertips. “Because I can assure you: curses are very real and if you try to blackmail me you will become a test subject for them to further my research.”

Felix picked his textbook back up. “Whatever. Nevermind.”

“Curses are real, Fraldarius. Watch yourself.”

“Why are you even researching them?” he asked, returning to his desk with a scowl. “Seems pretty fucked up, even for you.”

Lysithea’s tone was just a little gentler as she said, “I’m doing it for a friend. Now shut up and let me study.”

  
  


This is not real. This cannot not be real.

“Sylvain!” Felix runs blindly through the woods, fog choking him, darkness enveloping him. He can hear the roar of the Beast in the distance, but it’s difficult to tell what direction it comes from in this labyrinth of trees, thickets and thorns.

“SYLVAIN!” he yells again.

A scream comes from ahead. Or was it behind? Has he been running away or towards the fight?

“Damn it!” he swears as he trips over a rut. He drops his sword to throw his hands out and break his fall but he still hits the ground hard and when he snatches his sword back and tries to get to his feet, pain shoots up his leg from his ankle. “Fuck! Sylvain, where are you?”

No answer comes from the dark and the din of the fight grows more muffled and distant. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Felix forces himself into a stumbling run and pushes on.

  
  


“Sounds like a wild goose chase,” Felix replied when Sylvain told him about Professor Byleth’s mission to go find some demonic beast supposedly lurking around in the Sealed Forest. “We have real enemies to fight. Jeralt is leading a group to go fight some bandits. That would be much better battle experience for us.”

“Come on, Fee. Hunting a mysterious monster? Surely that’s more exciting than rounding up some common bandits.”

“We’re not even in the Golden Deer house. Why would we go on their mission?” he asked.

Sylvain nicked a piece of bacon off Felix’s plate, impervious to Felix’s irritated huff, and said, “Byleth said we could come along if we want. In fact, they asked if we would.”

“They’re just trying to get us to join their class.”

“Maybe we should. We’d learn a lot more from them than old Hanneman. It might be worth fielding all the furious letters our fathers would send us if they found out.”

Felix muttered something under his breath about where their fathers could put those letters. He reached up and snatched the strip of bacon from Sylvain before he could take another bite.

“Get your own breakfast,” he said, wondering for the hundredth time why Sylvain always insisted on sitting next to him in the dining hall and more importantly why he let him.

“Why would I do that when it’s so much more fun to steal yours?”

“Ugh.”

Sylvain took a sip of Felix’s coffee, grimaced at its bitter flavor, then said, “Hear me out.”

“As if I have a choice…”

Raising his hands, Sylvain traced words in the air as if writing in grand script on parchment. “Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Slayer of Beasts, Devourer of Bacon, the Sharpest Sword in Faerghus.”

Felix stared at him with an unimpressed look. “I’m not in this for the glory.”

“Glory gets you the attention of worthy opponents. You beat this beast I bet Byleth will accept your pleas to spar.”

“Well, I guess that’s-”

“Great!” Sylvain said, clapping him on the back so hard Felix choked on his toast. “We leave at noon.”

He jumped up from his seat but Felix grabbed his wrist before he could wander off. He let go immediately when Sylvain looked at him in astonishment. Felix’s hand felt strange like it was being pricked by pins and needles but he shook off the unsettling electrifying sensation and focused. 

“Why do you want to go so much? You don’t give a shit about training,” he said.

Sylvain hesitated a moment as he always did when considering saying something serious. Then he answered sincerely, “I care about my friends. We’re doing this for Marianne. I’d do a lot to bring a smile to that girl’s face.”

Felix restrained himself from saying something sarcastic about how _of course it was a girl motivating Sylvain_ because he knew Sylvain and he knew that tone in his voice. This wasn’t about trying to get in Marianne’s good graces. She wasn’t his type anyways, if Sylvain was discerning enough to have a type, that is. No, Felix figured that Sylvain actually did care a lot about this, and that fact more than anything else won him over to the idea.

“I’ll go pack my things,” he said, draining the rest of his coffee and getting up. “Meet you in the courtyard at noon then.”

  
  


A hungry, slavering growl behind him causes Felix’s heart to leap into his throat. He whips around to see a demonic beast charge out of the fog. It isn’t _the_ Beast but it’s still terrifying: a huge wolf-like creature with massive teeth.

Panic makes his breath come in short gasps as Felix raises his sword, knowing there is no way in hell he can kill this thing on his own but also that fleeing with a broken ankle would be pointless.

With a yell, Felix lunges forward and swings at the beast. If he is going down, it will be fighting.

  
  


As Felix marched into the courtyard where the Golden Deer were assembling, Lysithea gave him a suspicious frown and he scowled back. She rolled her eyes and looked away.

“Felix!” Leonie said with a friendly smile. “Ready for a good hunt?”

“Sure,” he answered, glancing around at the others. The big muscly guy and the little artsy one were missing; Felix wasn’t sure why, nor did he care. But that meant it was just the other six Golden Deer, Petra who had transferred earlier this year, and Sylvain who was currently chatting up Professor Byleth, completely undeterred by their blank, disinterested expression.

This better be a simple hunt. Felix didn’t trust anyone other than the girl from Brigid to be competent with a sword. He didn’t see the others in the training hall much. Leonie he knew had her wits about her and Ashe raved a lot about Claude’s archery skills, but Felix had been stationed too far away on the field at the mock battle from him to see them in action. As for the purple-haired ponce Lorenz, he had no fucking clue. He only ever saw him sitting around drinking tea with that von Aegir guy.

Holst Goneril’s little sister had once cleaved the armored head of a training dummy in half with a single swing of her axe, but that was also the _only_ time Felix had ever seen her put any effort in whatsoever. Most of the time she lounged on the sidelines sipping iced tea. Lysithea’s knowledge of combat was no doubt far more theoretical than practical. And as for Marianne… 

Felix leveled his analyzing gaze on her. She stood a ways away from everyone else, petting her horse and murmuring something to him under her breath. He hadn’t interacted with her much, not enough to have a real opinion of her other than that she seemed generally anxious and gloomy. But as she climbed up onto her horse, Felix noticed that there was a sword sheath strapped to her saddle and the shape of the hilt was that of a killer blade. 

Interesting.

“Let’s move out,” Byleth said abruptly, turning away from Sylvain. They caught sight of Felix and gave him a curt, soldier-like nod which Felix returned respectfully.

“You heard Teach. Let’s go, Deer,” Claude added with a pointed look at Hilda and Lorenz who were still chatting and laughing together.

“Want to ride with me instead of walking?” Sylvain said, trotting over on his horse and holding his hand out.

Felix looked up at him and hesitated, then took his hand and allowed Sylvain to help him up into the saddle in front of him. 

“This damn creature better not throw me off like last time,” Felix mumbled, gripping the saddlehorn nervously.

“Aw, Dandelion would never do such a thing. Would you, girl? Would you?” Sylvain cooed, stroking the horse’s scruffy coat.

Felix scoffed in annoyance at Sylvain’s antics. They continued to banter as their group set out and rode out of Garreg Mach and onto the road through the forest. But once they were on the road and their horses picked up their pace, Sylvain tucked an arm around Felix’s waist to hold him in the saddle and Felix fell abruptly silent, all of his senses distracted by that touch simple and practical as it was. He became uncomfortably aware of Sylvain’s chest pressed against his back and of the way Sylvain’s arm tightened around him protectively whenever his horse leapt over a fallen log or sped his pace up to a canter.

Maybe he should have just walked or sucked it up and gotten his own horse. If this hunt actually ended up being a decent challenge then he couldn’t afford to be distracted. And Sylvain… Sothis damn him. Sylvain lately had become far too distracting.

  
  


Right before Felix’s blade reaches the wolf, an arrow strikes straight and true into its heart, staggering it. A second later one buries itself into the beast’s eye, drawing a howl of rage from it. The flap of wings draws Felix’s attention and he glances up to see Claude on his wyvern overhead and Petra in the saddle behind him with her bow drawn too. 

Seizing advantage of the wolf’s distraction, Felix throws himself forward and slashes his sword with all his strength across the beast’s throat, splattering dark, foul-smelling blood across his face. He gags and stumbles back as the beast falls, tripping on his broken ankle and collapsing. Warmth wraps around his ankle with a flash of light and he feels the bone knit back together – a split-second of incredible agony that swiftly gives way to relief.

Felix gets up and turns to find Byleth running over, faith magic still glowing in their outstretched hand.

“Have you seen Marianne?” they ask urgently.

“Sylvain and I followed her but I got separated from them,” Felix replies. “I’ve been searching but I can’t… Does anyone have eyes on any of them or did you lose them too?”

“Can’t see anything in this damn fog!” Claude shouts from overhead, his wyvern swooping past.

“I sent the others to look eastwards. Claude, you and Petra go west. Felix, head north with me,” Byleth orders. 

Claude flies off immediately and Byleth gives Felix an encouraging nod. “We’ll find them,” they promise. “Come on.”

Byleth’s reassuring authority almost makes Felix believe them, but not quite. Byleth hadn’t been there when he saw the Beast. They have no idea what they are up against, what vicious teeth could already have crushed Sylvain’s body and what claws could already have raked out his heart. They have no idea what awaits them out there in the dark.

Wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve, Felix nods back and races after Byleth in a direction that he can only pray is the right one.

  
  


“So is this like, your audition to join the Golden Deer or something?” Hilda asked, guiding the horse she and Lysithea were riding to trot alongside Dandelion. 

“I’ve already been offered the role,” Sylvain said with a wink. “I’m just waiting to accept until I find out who my leading lady is.”

The trail led along the edge of a ravine but Felix truly considered throwing himself off the horse nonetheless.

Lysithea, who was reading a book somehow while riding, sighed in disgust without looking up from the pages. 

“In all seriousness, though, I’m just here to help out. I’m not leaving the Blue Lions without Felix,” Sylvain said, which startled Felix so much he tensed up and felt his face grow warm with what was hopefully not a blush. Thank the goddess Sylvain wasn’t able to see his face.

But Felix had the unsettling sense that nothing escaped Hilda because she smiled knowingly and said, “Seriousness is a good look on you, Sylvain. You should try it more. It might prevent misunderstandings once in a while.” 

As Hilda nudged her horse forward to trot away, Felix expected Sylvain to fire back a teasing reply or chase after her but instead Sylvain just fell silent. 

He wanted to ask Sylvain if he meant what he said, but breaking the silence seemed impossible. After a while, Sylvain began to hum to himself and as Felix gazed out at the valley below them and listened to the calming sound, he relaxed again and allowed himself to lean back against Sylvain’s chest.

He wondered why Sylvain worried about leaving him behind. And he wished he were the kind of person who knew how to say things because if he was he would tell Sylvain that he didn’t have to be afraid of that. He would follow him anywhere.

  
  


Byleth moves silent as a cat, with a sharpness and intensity in their manner that reassures Felix more than anything they could say. Power is visible in every alert and purposeful movement of their body. If anyone has a shot at killing this Beast or at least holding it off long enough for them to get Marianne out of these woods and escape, it might be Byleth.

When Byleth freezes and stares into the darkness with held breath, Felix follows suit.

“Ahead,” Byleth whispers. “We’re heading in the right direction. It’s close.”

“But I can’t hear the screaming anymore,” Felix argues.

“That’s because they’ve stopped fighting.”

Felix’s blood runs cold and his mind goes blank with panic until Byleth moves forwards again and says, “Come on.” 

He follows, struggling to keep his breaths even and quiet, hands gripping his sword hilt so desperately it hurts.

  
  


Marianne stuck close to Professor Byleth’s side as they travelled and although all the other Golden Deer at some point tried to draw her into conversation, her reticence would eventually discourage them and they would flit away to talk to someone else. They were a lively bunch, far too talkative and teasing for Felix’s comfort, and he sympathized with Marianne. 

They certainly didn’t dislike her and he didn’t get the impression she disliked them either. Quite to the contrary. She would often smile slightly as she listened to some stupid joke Claude would make or some amusing argument Leonie would get into with Lorenz. And yet she kept to herself, as if some barrier existed between her and the others that no amount of fondness could breach.

“Have you ever actually talked to Marianne?” Felix asked Sylvain skeptically, careful to keep his voice low so no one would overhear.

“Quite a bit, actually,” he replied.

“How? She’s quiet as the grave.”

“She’s not that quiet. She’s just shy. You get past that and she’s very warm and easy to talk to.”

“How the hell have you been able to get that far when not even her own classmates can get close to her?” Felix asked. He wasn’t sure why he cared. He guessed it was just because Sylvain had dragged him out on this stupid quest for the purpose of helping Marianne, a girl who Felix had never even heard him mention until today. And Sylvain mentioned a lot of girls. A lot.

Sylvain laughed lightly, a sound Felix knew all too well. It was the laugh that he gave when he didn’t want Felix to worry about something that he absolutely _should_ worry about. “Because I’m cursed too,” Sylvain said. 

“Curses aren’t real,” Felix said. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Sylvain laughed again and Felix frowned in irritation. He hated that laugh. He heard it too much from Sylvain lately. It was like a shield pushing him away from the truth of whatever was going on his head. 

At least Marianne’s shields were obvious. Sylvain’s were so much more deceptive.

  
  


A shift in the flow of the air and fog, a bare hint of sunlight – Felix only vaguely got a sense of these signs but Byleth picked up on them instantly and paused to whisper, “There’s a small clearing ahead. If Sylvain is smart, that’s where he would have put up a fight.”

“I still don’t hear the Beast,” Felix replies.

“He’s here. Close. I don’t know what he’s waiting for. Maybe for more of us to show up.”

“So we are walking into a trap.”

Byleth nods. “You’re going to find Sylvain and Marianne immediately. I will keep watch for the Beast and hold it off when it springs the trap.”

“You can’t fight it alone.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” Byleth says. “Find your friends and get the fuck out of here. That’s an order. Head west to meet up with Claude. Tell him to gather the others and wait for me on the southern edge of the forest.”

Before Felix can argue, Byleth breaks into a run, forcing Felix to follow so as to not be left behind in the darkness. They burst into a glade a minute later where the mist is thinner and, free of the stifling trees, the air is easier to breathe.

Byleth motions for Felix to skirt around the edge of the clearing while they run into its center and blast away some of the fog with a brilliant flare of fire magic.

A rumble comes from the woods.

  
  


“Well, here we are,” Sylvain said with a grin as they rode into the Sealed Forest and looked around in awe at the abrupt shift in atmosphere. A moment ago they had been out on the sunlit mountain roads but as soon as they passed through the treeline into the dense woods, it was like they had entered a whole new world.

Day had suddenly become night and any warmth from the sunlight had vanished, replaced by an icy chill that seemed to seep past Felix’s skin all the way to his bones. He had grown up running around through the forests of Faerghus, but never had seen anything like this.

“Spooky,” Sylvain commented gleefully. “See? This is way cooler than rounding up bandits in some farm town.”

“There’s something wrong about this place,” Felix replied. 

He glanced at Marianne and was both unsettled and fascinated to see that out of all of them she was the only one who looked unfazed by the woods. Her expression was both resigned and resolute, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. 

“Stick together,” Byleth ordered. “Fighters in the front, mages in the back. Fliers stick close overhead and scout for threats but don’t lose sight of us. You know the drill, Deer.”

“Got it, Teach!” Claude said but Felix got the sense his cheerful manner was forced. He was as affected by the atmosphere of the place as the rest of them.

Felix wondered if this really was the kind of mission that was sanctioned by the church as appropriate class curriculum. Old man Hanneman would certainly never take them somewhere as dangerous as this.

“Goddess… Professor Byleth is crazy,” Sylvain whispered, as if guessing Felix’s thoughts. “No way in hell Rhea approved this.”

Following Byleth’s orders, Sylvain nudged Dandelion forward to join the front line of the class and unstrapped his lance from its sheath, holding it aloft as he rode, ready for a fight.

The Golden Deer’s usual chatter quieted as they rode deeper into the forest, the heavy silence dampening their spirits and the impending sense of danger settling over all of them. The further they went, the more the canopy of foliage choked out all light. The cold grew sharper and mist began to seep from the ground.

“It’s still afternoon,” Felix murmured to Sylvain. “This isn’t natural.”

There was no longer any denial and levity in Sylvain’s voice as he said, “I know.” His arm tightened around Felix’s waist and he tucked his head down to rest his chin on Felix’s shoulder. Felix could feel his breath against his neck, a hint of warmth amidst the chill that was intoxicatingly comforting even though he would usually find such closeness unwelcome.

“But I’m not afraid. I know you have my back,” Sylvain added. “I know you don’t place a lot of faith in my abilities, but I’ve been training harder lately. I’ve got your back too. You can trust that. I promise. We’ll look out for each other.”

“Just watch yourself. I’m fine,” Felix replied, hating the sharpness in his tone but unable to stop himself. He knew he had shields of his own and he felt Sylvain stiffen as they rose up. But Sylvain didn’t let go of him, nor did he move his head from Felix’s shoulder.

“I know,” he said hesitantly. “I guess I’m just being silly.”

Felix wanted to amend his words but before he could think of how, Byleth suddenly reined in their horse and the entire class stopped.

“Something’s coming,” the professor said. “Weapons ready.”

“What’s coming?” Hilda asked nervously and when Byleth did not immediately reply, she repeated with growing hysteria, “What’s coming, Professor?”

“A demonic beast,” Marianne answered. “But it’s not… _the_ Beast. It’s not him.”

Before anyone could ask what exactly that extremely unnerving answer meant, a growl came from the darkness and a crash. Byleth threw a fire spell into the air and into the halo of light charged a demonic beast and seconds later from the opposite side lunged in a second monster.

Hilda screamed and Lorenz let out a sound that could only be described as a squeak.

Petra yelled a war cry in the language of Brigid and swooped down on her wyvern to attack.

Lysithea swore loudly and scrambled to cast a spell.

Leonie and Claude leapt into action calmly, following Byleth’s orders on how to position their attacks.

Felix listened for Byleth’s orders, prepared to leap from Sylvain’s horse and attack on foot as he was trained to. But then beside them Marianne gasped and said, “He’s here too. I have to face him.” She froze and stared into the fog for a moment then abruptly spurred her horse forward and galloped away from the others, plunging into the darkness.

“Marianne!” Sylvain cried and before anyone else could react, he kicked Dandelion into a run and chased after her.

“What are you doing?” Felix shouted, both at Marianne and Sylvain.

Behind them, Byleth yelled at them to come back and some of the others screamed their names.

“Hold on!” Sylvain said and raced through the narrow winding trails, keeping just close enough to Marianne that she couldn’t entirely vanish into the mist and dark.

“Go back to the others, Sylvain!” Marianne shouted over her shoulder at them.

“No way! I won’t let you fight alone!” he replied.

She cried out in frustration and tried to spur her horse faster but Sylvain was just as accomplished a rider and she could not shake him.

Heart pounding in disbelief at the insanity of the situation, Felix hung on for dear life as Dandelion leapt over fallen logs, wheeled sharply around corners and gained ground on Marianne’s horse.

The commotion of the others’ battle with the two demonic beasts faded and still Marianne did not stop. She rode harder and started to slip away from them until suddenly her horse reared and whinnied shrilly.

All Felix saw was a lumbering shadow of a massive creature ahead of them, then the next thing he knew he was facedown in the dirt and dead leaves, having been thrown from the saddle as Dandelion reared and balked in terror.

“Felix!” Sylvain cried.

Adrenaline got him back on his feet and he ran after Marianne and Sylvain, watching in horror as the shadow of the Beast emerged from the fog – a monolith of scales, fur, teeth and claws like nothing he’d seen before, nor even imagined existed.

A flash of magic blinded Felix as Marianne attacked the Beast and Sylvain turned back to Felix for a moment, shouting his name again. But a deafening roar shattered the air and their spooked horses panicked, bolting again away from the Beast. 

Felix chased after them but stopped dead in his tracks as the Beast leveled its gaze upon him. For one chilling moment it stared at him and he stared back. Then it turned away to hunt Marianne and Sylvain, its running steps sending tremors through the ground.

“Sylvain!” he yelled, the sound echoing uselessly through the forest.

“Felix.”

It is hardly more than a gasp, but Felix’s heart leaps into his throat at the sound of Sylvain’s voice. Breaking into a run, he races towards a giant fallen oak on the edge of the clearing. Scrambling over it, he finds Sylvain huddled on the ground behind it, hiding in its shadow. Blood is streaked across his face and splattered across his body and cradled in his arms is Marianne.

“Oh goddess, Fee…” Sylvain breathes as Felix drops down to his knees beside them.

“Is she dead?” he asks.

“No. She just passed out from overexerting her magic. We got pretty torn up fighting that… that Thing. She used up all her healing spells to keep me alive.” Sylvain’s voice is shaky and hoarse and when Felix looks closer at him he can see tears staining his cheeks.

“Byleth is here,” Felix reassures him. “They’ll hold off the Beast while we get Marianne out of here. Can you walk?”

“I think so,” he replies. He sets down Marianne’s limp body gently and reaches out his hands. Taking them, Felix pulls him to his feet. He looks up at Sylvain for a second, open-mouthed as he struggles to say something, _anything_ , to express the relief at seeing him alive that is so strong he is practically choking on it.

Then Sylvain stumbles forward and grabs Felix in a hug, clutching him to his chest and burying his face in his neck. His body trembles with silent sobs and Felix clings to him as if his life depends on it.

“I’ve got you,” he finally whispers. It’s the only thing he can think to say. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t know where our horses are,” Sylvain says. “We lost them.”

“It doesn’t matter. We just need to get as far away from here as possible.”

Sylvain turns and looks over the trunk of the oak at Byleth standing in the middle of the glade.

“We can’t leave them alone to face that thing. They’ll die,” he says.

“Marianne will die if we leave her here and go join Byleth.”

Sylvain glances down at her and back at Byleth with an agonized look. “What do we do?”

“We follow orders, Sylvain. That’s what soldiers do. I don’t want to leave them either. But it’s either Marianne or Byleth, and Marianne’s just a kid.”

“Don’t you dare,” Marianne says and they both jump, looking at her as she pushes herself up into a sitting position weakly. She stares up at them with a ferocity in her eyes that Felix would never have expected her capable of. “No one dies because of me.”

“There’s no way you can fight that thing,” Sylvain insists, helping her to her feet. “We barely survived!”

“We have Byleth now. We can kill it if we fight together. But they won’t if they fight it alone,” Marianne says. She pulls out of Sylvain’s grasp and brushes the dirt from her clothes. Picking up her sword, she walks shakily around the fallen log and out into the clearing.

“She’s insane!” Felix hisses at Sylvain but he is just gazing after her with a strange look on his face.

“I’d do anything to break my curse too,” he says. “I can’t, but she can. Is it my place to stop her?”

“What curse?” Felix demands.

“What do you think? My crest.” He laughs bitterly. “That’s why I want to help her. I know what it’s like to not be able to live your life, to not even consider having a dream for your future, to know you’ll never be with the person you love so much you’d give anything to-” He pauses abruptly.

Felix stares at him in confusion. He has heard Sylvain express disgust for his crest a hundred times, but never like this, never with such open vehemence and despair. And he has certainly never spoken of loving someone. Who could he possibly mean? Sylvain doesn’t really love anyone, not with the kind of devotion his words imply. 

“You’re wounded,” Felix says. “You feel so strongly about helping Marianne? Fine. I’ll go fight with her and Byleth. But you aren’t in any shape to. You go find Claude and the others and bring them here to help.”

Sylvain turns around to look at Felix angrily. “Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you behind again.”

“Don’t be an idiot. You’ll be useless in a fight in your condition and you’ll just end up getting yourself killed.”

“We always said we’d die together.”

“Stop it!” Felix snaps. He can hear Byleth having the same argument with Marianne in the distance and fury at both their stubbornness overwhelms him. “Stop going on about being cursed and alone and all this fucking nonsense! You’re not alone. And you dying is the stupidest, cruelest thing you could possibly do. You realize that, right? That people would care if you died?”

“Aw, Fee, that’s kind of sweet,” he says, retreating behind that damned fake smile in the blink of an eye.

“Fuck you, Sylvain,” Felix replies. “Make your choice. Either you go find the others and leave me here to fight or you help me grab Marianne and haul her out of here. Those are the only choices that least likely to end in you dying so they are the only ones I’m allowing. Choose.”

“No, fuck you, Felix. I’m not leaving you,” Sylvain fires back.

Felix growls in frustration and steps forward to grab Sylvain’s arm. “You have to-” He pauses as the ground shakes beneath them and a roar reverberates through the air.

The Beast has returned.

“Shit, shit,” Felix gasps, watching as trees snap and crash beneath the trampling paws of the monster as it bursts into the clearing. “Shit!”

An Aura spell explodes from Marianne the same instant Thoron blasts from Byleth to strike the Beast. It roars again and charges at them, undeterred.

“We have to help them!” Sylvain says.

There is no arguing with him now. It is too late for that.

Felix lets go of Sylvain’s arm and draws his sword. “Stay by my side,” he orders. “I’ll protect you.”

Sylvain snatches up his lance and together they run to Byleth and Marianne. Felix steals a split-second glance at Sylvain and the look of determination on his face and the strength and courage with which he leaps into action is breathtaking.

In this moment he has never been so furious with Sylvain, nor so proud of him.

The onslaught of the Beast is savage, tremendous and impossible to strategize against. Byleth shouts orders at them but they can hardly hear them let alone obey, struggling with every shred of training and strength to survive.

It feels like an eternity before Felix manages to land his first strike and it rebounds uselessly off the Beast’s scales. A low rumble of something almost like laughter comes from the Beast’s throat.

“Get out of the way!” Byleth shouts and plants their sword in the ground, raising both hands, palms facing outwards. With a cry of exertion, they fire a spell that tears like a storm from their body and engulf the Beast in its thrashing inferno.

The Beast staggers and in that moment of opportunity, Felix and Sylvain dive forward in unison, followed by Marianne. Sylvain sinks his lance into the Beast’s eye and Felix plunges his sword into a gap in its scales on its chest, throwing his whole weight into the thrust to bury his sword to the hilt. Marianne slices her sword across the Beast’s neck, sending a spray of blood flying.

A fell shriek rips from the Beast and Byleth strikes it with a Thoron spell to keep it stunned and buy Felix enough time to wrench his weapon free and dodge out of the way with Sylvain and Marianne before the Beast regains its balance and counterattacks. Blood is flowing from the wound in its chest and its mangled eye has damaged it enough to throw it off-balance and yet the power and ferocity of its attacks does not wane.

Those three strikes combined with Byleth’s spells should have killed it and yet all they have done is enrage it. 

“I’ll stagger it again!” Byleth shouts. “Get ready!”

Regrouping, Felix, Sylvain and Marianne attack again while Byleth fires another powerful spell.

But the Beast ignores it and whips its head around and before any of them can stop it, its teeth catch Marianne, jaws snapping shut. She screams as it tears through her body, rending flesh and breaking bone.

Felix’s eyes widen in shock at the horrifying sight then some kind of strange magic radiates through him and–

“Get out of the way!” Byleth shouts and plants their sword in the ground, raising both hands, palms facing outwards. With a cry of exertion, they fire a spell that tears like a storm from their body and engulf the Beast in its thrashing inferno.

The Beast staggers and Felix and Sylvain dive forward in unison, followed by Marianne. Sylvain sinks his lance into the Beast’s eye and Felix plunges his sword into a gap in its scales on its chest. Marianne slices her sword across the Beast’s neck, sending a spray of blood flying.

A fell shriek rips from the Beast and Byleth strikes it with a Thoron spell to keep it stunned and buy the three of them enough time to dodge away.

Those three strikes combined with Byleth’s spells should have killed it and yet all they have done is enrage it. 

“Fall back!” Byleth shouts. “Get behind me!”

Sylvain obeys and when Marianne hesitates, Felix grabs her arm and yanks her after him. Regrouping behind Byleth, they gasp for breath and prepare for the next round of attacks. 

“I’ll stagger it again!” Byleth shouts. “Get ready!”

But before Byleth can even channel the spell, the Beast’s tail sweeps around and its serrated spikes dig deeply into Byleth’s chest, flinging them off their feet like a ragdoll.

Felix’s eyes widen in shock at the horrifying sight then some kind of strange magic radiates through him and–

“Get out of the way!” Byleth shouts and plants their sword in the ground, raising both hands, palms facing outwards. With a cry of exertion, they fire a spell that tears like a storm from their body and engulf the Beast in its thrashing inferno.

The Beast staggers and Felix and Sylvain dive forward in unison, followed by Marianne. Sylvain sinks his lance into the Beast’s eye and Felix plunges his sword into a gap in its scales on its chest. Marianne slices her sword across the Beast’s neck, sending a spray of blood flying.

A fell shriek rips from the Beast and Byleth strikes it with a Thoron spell to keep it stunned and buy the three of them enough time to dodge away.

Those three strikes combined with Byleth’s spells should have killed it and yet all they have done is enrage it. 

“Together!” Byleth yells, and the four of them attack at once. They land solid hits on the Beast, drawing roars from it and finally a whimper of pain.

Felix begins to feel hope that it is killable, that by some miracle they might actually survive this and vanquish the creature. 

“Good!” Byleth says. “Fall back and let me-”

The Beast breaks through its stun and its claws rake across Felix’s leg as he tries to lunge away. They dig deep enough to hit bone and Felix screams in pain, unable to move. A second later he is lifted off the ground as the Beast snaps him up in its jaws. He can barely feel it through the pain but a strange sensation like magic passes through him and–

“Get out of the way!” Byleth shouts and plants their sword in the ground, raising both hands, palms facing outwards. With a cry of exertion, they fire a spell that tears like a storm from their body and engulf the Beast in its thrashing inferno.

The Beast staggers and Felix and Sylvain dive forward in unison, followed by Marianne. Sylvain sinks his lance into the Beast’s eye and Felix plunges his sword into a gap in its scales on its chest. Marianne slices her sword across the Beast’s neck, sending a spray of blood flying.

A fell shriek rips from the Beast and Byleth strikes it with a Thoron spell to keep it stunned and buy the three of them enough time to dodge away.

Those three strikes combined with Byleth’s spells should have killed it and yet all they have done is enrage it. 

“Run!” Byleth says, voice ragged and chest heaving with frantic breaths. “You can’t fight this! Run! That’s an ORDER!”

“No, I won’t-” Marianne begins but Felix charges over to her and scoops her up off her feet, throwing her over his shoulder.

“Fee!” Sylvain cries, running after him as he staggers away from the beast carrying Marianne.

“Let me go!” she gasps, pounding her fists against Felix’s back.

Behind them the Beast roars and Felix hears the crackle of Thoron spells as Byleth holds it at bay.

“RUN!” Byleth yells. “The others will have seen the light of our spells by now! They’ll be close! Return with them! I’ll hold it off. I promise! Go!”

To Felix’s relief, Sylvain does not protest, running over to help Felix carry Marianne.

“We can’t leave the professor!” she sobs.

“We’re not,” Sylvain says. “I have an idea.”

Marianne stops struggling. “Put me down.”

“No way,” Felix replies.

“I trust Sylvain. Put me down.”

He gives in and sets her down on her feet.

“Follow me,” Sylvain says and runs out of the clearing and back into the woods.

“What’s your plan?” Felix asks, falling into step beside him. “We’re fucked. It better be a good one.”

“It’s not,” he says. “But it’s a plan.”

“Great.”

“I saw something on the Beast’s back while we were fighting. Did you?” he asks. “It was a sword. A relic, I think. It… had that energy. I can’t describe it, but I know. They always feel off. They kind of turn my stomach.”

“Blutgang,” Marianne says.

“What now?” Felix asks.

“The Blood Sword,” she explains. “Sylvain’s right. It is a relic.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” Felix says.

“It was lost ages ago. No one talks about it.”

“I think we can kill the Beast with it,” Sylvain says. He glances at Marianne. “You can. We just need to help you get to it.”

She nods. “I can do it.”

That seems pretty fucking unlikely to Felix, given how unsteady her steps are and how she looks an inch from collapsing. But he decides to take any hope he can get at this point, no matter how far-fetched. And he knows how powerful a relic can be in the right hands.

Once they skirt far enough around to be behind the Beast the three of them stop and approach the edge of the clearing carefully. Byleth is still valiantly battling the monster, but they are only holding back its fury, not gaining any ground or landing any significant blows.

“Okay, Marianne, I’ll give you a boost up onto it’s back,” Sylvain says. He is breathing heavily and clutching at a wound on his waist. “I won’t lie; I’m not sure I’ve got much fighting left in me. But I can get you up there. Felix, you could go with her, try to protect her if the Beast tries to throw her off or lash out with its tail. Can you do that?”

Felix nods resolutely at Sylvain. “Yes. Be careful.”

Sylvain hugs him and slings an arm around Marianne, pulling her into the hug as well. 

“Thank you,” Marianne whispers. “For believing in me.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Sylvain says.

For a second so fleeting Felix hardly processes it, he feels Sylvain’s lips press against his cheek then Sylvain lets go of both of them. “Let’s finish this.”

Together, they race from the shelter of the woods towards the Beast. As soon as they reach its flank, Sylvain drops to his knees and holds out his hands as a step. Marianne jumps onto them and Sylvain hoists her upwards so she can scramble up onto the Beast’s back. Then Felix is on top of it as well, a step behind Marianne and terrified out of his mind.

Sure enough, in the center of the Beasts’s back is a sword sheath wedged between its scales.

The Beast roars and its body heaves beneath them while Byleth shouts in confusion and launches a Thoron spell at its head. Felix grabs hold of the edge of one of its scales with one hand and seizes Marianne’s arm with the other to steady her. She clings to the Beast as it rears until it lands back down on all four legs then she leaps into action, hauling herself up across the ridges of its spine towards the sword.

“What are you doing?” Byleth yells.

“Distract it!” Felix replies.

The Beasts’s tail sweeps around right as Marianne reaches the blade and Felix swears and raises his sword. He takes a deep breath and right as the tail reaches them he brings the sword slicing down with all his strength. It severs the tail and the Beast shrieks. Felix gags as the tail whips around, sending hot, foul-smelling blood flying across him.

With a determined yell, Marianne pulls the weapon free and raises it, unearthly scarlet light glowing from its blade.

“No more!” she screams and stabs it down straight into the Beats’s neck at the base of its head, burying it into its spinal chord and paralyzing it.

The Beast collapses and throws Felix from its back but Marianne keeps hold of the blade until the Beast settles, then she wrenches it free and leaps to the ground, slashing it across the Beasts throat again and again until no doubt remains that it is, finally, dead.

The shudders cease in the creature’s body and it falls still. Then it begins to crumble, its scales, flesh and bones tearing apart until there is nothing but ash and blood left behind. Marianne falls to her knees amidst it, clutching Blutgang, and sobs.

As Byleth runs over to kneel beside her and heal her wounds, Felix limps over to Sylvain and finds him sitting down on the grass, a stunned look on his face.

“She’s free now,” he says in a dazed voice. “I’m so… happy for her.”

“Your curse isn’t as horrific as that,” Felix says.

Sylvain stiffens. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just throwing a pity party earlier. I’m sorry. Marianne has been through shit I can’t even fathom. I shouldn’t compare myself to her. That was selfish of me.”

“No, you don’t understand. What I meant is that yours isn't a kill-or-be-killed kind of curse. It’s not a monster. It’s just a…” 

Sylvain stares at him and waits for Felix to find the right words, a hurt and wary look in his eyes.

“Just a choice,” Felix finishes. “Fuck your crest. Fuck being a Gautier. Be free. You do that and I’ll support you, no matter what our fathers say.”

“You’re the heir to the Shield of the King,” Sylvain says in disbelief. “You’re the son of the most powerful house in Faerghus. You can’t say stuff like that. You can’t associate with someone like me if I disgrace my house and reject my role.”

“I’m myself, no one else. Just Felix. And you’re just Sylvain. We’re only Fraldarius and Gautier if we choose to be. If you leave that behind to be happy, I won’t look back either. I don’t give a damn about any of those expectations. Wherever you go, you don’t have to-” Felix stops, shocked at his own honesty. It is uncomfortable and frightening but freeing in a way that he has longed for more than he realized. “I’ll follow you,” he says. “Wherever you go.”

Sylvain stares at him in disbelief for a moment then leans forward and grabs Felix in a hug, pulling him close and pressing his lips against the top of his head.

“Let me go, you stupid-”

“Just let me hug you, damn it! It’s been a traumatizing day,” Sylvain argues.

Felix sighs in disgust and relaxes into his arms, nestling his head in the crook of his neck.

“So are you going to join the Golden Deer?” he asks. 

“Oh absolutely. Professor Byleth is crazy.”

“You think they’ll fight me now?”

“Probably. You were a badass back there, Fee.”

“Yeah, well… so were you.”

“I could get used to you saying nice things about me. I think it’s a bit addicting actually. I better train harder and earn that from you more often,” Sylvain says.

“We both know that won’t happen,” Felix replies, poking Sylvain’s chest.

Sylvain takes a deep breath and exhales it slowly, holding Felix tighter. “I think a lot of things might happen now that we didn’t think would.”

“Like what?”

“Like this.”

Sylvain takes Felix’s face in his hand and tips it up to look at him. Then suddenly Sylvain is kissing him and Felix’s mind is reeling from the shock of it and the heart-pounding, confusing, wonderful satisfaction of it.

“Breaking my curse might be worth it if it means I could have you,” Sylvain whispers against his lips.

Felix is too dazed to reply and he thanks the goddess silently when a cacophony breaks out in the glade. 

The Golden Deer have found them at last and all hell breaks loose as the students panic and shout and talk and rush over to Marianne and Byleth.

Sylvain chuckles and gets to his feet, helping Felix up with him. He takes his hand and intertwines their fingers and Felix can’t bring himself to let go. Not yet at least.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! The first fanfic I ever wrote was a Sylvain/Felix psychological horror story ([ _Nightshade_](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23121628)) and it was fun to return to my roots! Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Want to chat and make a friend? Hit me up on Twitter @lalexanderwrite


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